Since its creation in 1983, The Disney Channel was a network geared towards families, offering mostly recycled Disney content until they started making money. As the channel grew in popularity, they started producing and co-producing their own series. Eventually, they found their niche with the tween market and that is who they primarily make content for.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. The whole point of any business is to make money, and The Disney Channel makes Disney A LOT of money. They have cleverly synergized their successful products across the spectrum, with Lizzie McGuire, High School Musical, and Hannah Montana branching out into studio entertainment, many items made by consumer products, multiple games created by Disney's interactive media group, and even into the parks, with entertainment offerings based on High School Musical and Kim Possible.

So all of these Disney produced shows and movies that Disney plays on The Disney Channel AND that they have spread across to other parts of the company aren't "real Disney"? If episodes of "The Ink and Paint Club" and other various shows throughout the channel's history that recycled classic shorts had drawn viewership, don't you think they would still be on the air? The truth is that people would rather purchase a DVD sampling some of the best Mickey shorts rather than tune in to daily programs of it. And The Disney Channel has made Mickey Mouse very accessible to a whole generation of preschoolers who are being taught important lessons with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So if Mickey Mouse is still widely available on the network, I think its safe to say that they deserve the mouse ears.

Honestly, I think it is sad that so many adults on this forum bash a hugely successful cable network that is currently geared towards tweens for not catering to their classic Disney interests. And I say this as a diehard Disney fan who greatly misses Vault Disney. I would love to see Disney start a new network for their vintage material. Indeed, many of the Disney Channel programs that I grew up on are unavailable to me in any format at the moment. It would be great to have an outlet not only for classic shows (Disneyland, Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club) and classic movies, but also for the Disney Channel shows that are hard to access right now (So Weird, Flash Forward, In a Heartbeat, Kids Incorporated, etc...).

And to say that Disney Channel doesn't play classic Disney anymore is actually false. They often play DACs, they just do it during the Playhouse Disney programming block. A few weeks ago, Dumbo was on Disney Channel and last week, Oliver & Company was on. The truth is that most big Disney fans own the films they really care to watch over and over. This isn't the 90's when many of the lesser known films were only available to rental store owners. I would estimate that abut 75% of all Disney films have been released to DVD. And with online rental stores and digital downloads, the accessibility of these programs is even greater. You don't even have to own them to watch them.

Disney just joined up with Hulu as well, so potentially, many of the programs and movies that you miss seeing on Disney Channel could end up on there for free. In addition, Bob Iger recently announced a Disney online video subscription service which would be a good source to view many of the catalog titles and it is rumored that shows will be added there as well.

So with classic Disney content becoming more and more accessible, why should The Disney Channel change its successful program lineup to appease you, bradhig, for whom the channel isn't even intended for? The answer is that they shouldn't. They shouldn't tamper with something that has proven successful.

and your not sick of all the Hana Montana stuff? Go look at youtube lots of people complaining there.

Weak rebuttle to great post by Goofystitch....your doing it right.

Great post Goofy Personally, I miss the older Disney Channel. I even went through my Suite Life phase before I became bored of the constant repeats. Honestly all the Disney Channel needs is just a better schedule, take out all those constant repeats in each day, shuffle in some new stuff, some old vintage stuff and you can still cater to the tweens and other fans as well. I may not personally like the majority of the shows but nobody is forcing me to watch them (Thank god) so I just choose not to put that channel on. Instead I pop in my dvds and watch the episodes of shows I *do* want to watch and thus avoid the whole problem rather nicely.

and your not sick of all the Hana Montana stuff? Go look at youtube lots of people complaining there.

No, I'm not. And do you want to know why? Because I don't watch The Disney Channel all day, every day. I enjoy three shows: Sonney With a Chance, Phineas and Ferb, and Wizards of Waverly Place. I set my DVR to record new episode of all three, and I fast forward through the commercials. All of the "Hannah Montana stuff" doesn't bother me because unlike you, I don't watch it all the time. Like Chernabog_Rocks pointed out, nobody is forcing you to watch it if you don't like it.

Chernabog_Rocks wrote:

Quote:

Honestly all the Disney Channel needs is just a better schedule, take out all those constant repeats in each day, shuffle in some new stuff, some old vintage stuff and you can still cater to the tweens and other fans as well.

It would be wonderful if Disney could find that kind of a balance in their scheduling. I think historically, channels aimed at children have always had lots and lots of reruns to account for the fact that kids are busy. Some kids have lots of extracurricular activities after school and simply aren't home to see Hannah Montana or The Suite Life when they are on at 4:00 and 5:00, for example. So playing both shows again at 8:00 and 9:00 or whenever they actually do gives those kids the opportunity to enjoy the shows they couldn't see earlier. For that reason, I don't think we will ever see Disney Channel return to a schedule that appeals to multiple age groups.

I think that this is sad because I don't think Disney sees the potential for kids to fall in love with the older shows. For example, the 10-year old son of one of my mom's friend's was recently over at my house. He considers the remake of "Freaky Friday" to be an "old movie" and while he was over, TV Land was on. He fell in love with the black & white sitcom Leave it to Beaver in the same way that I, as a kid, fell in love with The Mickey Mouse Club and the Disneyland series through Vault Disney. I think Disney assumed that only adults who grew up with those shows were actually watching them. The sad thing is that today, the only chance for kids to be familiar with the Walt era TV programs is through parents or older siblings who collect the Treasures. But the fact that small prints of these shows aren't selling out doesn't look promising for our cause.

There's a big difference between simply complaining about it and making outlandish statements. It's one thing if you came on and said something like: "I don't like the shows that Disney Channel plays today. I don't think that Hannah Montana is very creative and I don't think Miley Cyrus is a good role model for the young girls that watch the show." That is an opinion and you can back it up with your own thoughts. Nobody can tell you that the way you feel is wrong.

Instead, you said:

Quote:

Cause there's no real Disney stuff on it anymore not even mickey mouse shorts. They get rid of the mouse ears until they bring back the old stuff.

That's where the problem is. You are saying that all of the content on Disney Channel, which Disney produces, isn't "real Disney." By definition, yes it is. They make it. It's Disney.

Secondly, saying that the mouse ears shouldn't be used as their logo anymore simply because you don't like the current programming is pretty outlandish. The mouse ears have always been part of the channel's logo. It has gone through numerous redesigns, but just because you don't like the way the channel has evolved doesn't mean they need to stop using their own logo.

You have every right to complain about The Disney Channel as much as you want, but when you say things like that, people are going to voice their opinions about it.

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